A Concrete Solution to America's Flooding ProblemImpulsive and indiscriminate, floods take an average of 100 lives each year and cause morethan $1 billion in repairs and reconstruction. Yet wrecked houses rushing downstream, streets,parks and neighborhoods engulfed in flash floods, and cities pounded by angry sea foam rarelydeter Americans from living in harm's way. Even though most homeowners' insurance policiesdo not cover floodwater damage, the beauty of living on the water's edge appears to be worththe risk.While there's no fooling Mother Nature, there are ways to live more safely with her.Construction technology, including methods and materials, continues to improve, as does ourknowledge of floodwaters and its effects on buildings. The clincher to achieving safer livingmay be a more nimble approach in the pursuit of solutions.RSMC, President Diane Richardson knows how to track down solutions that tend to be elusivebecause they are so obvious. She has proposed one for those living in flood-prone areas -floating concrete used to make emergency platforms and shelters and amphibious homes."It's a simple technology that was patented many years ago, but the patent has expired and isnow available for anyone to use," Richardson said. "It's currently being used by companiesaround the world to build marinas, ferry docks and bridges. For those who live in flood-proneareas, it has the potential to save money and lives."Floating concrete consists of very large blocks of polystyrene (closed-cell, brittle Styrofoammaterial commonly found in cheap ice coolers) encased in wiremesh and lightweight concrete.When lashed together, the foam and concrete modules create floating platforms that can movewith floodwaters up and down held in place by steel piles driven into the ground.The platforms are capable of supporting considerable weight. In addition to homes, businessesand emergency roadways, Richardson suggests using the floating concrete to provideemergency platforms for those trying to escape or find safe ground in a flood."These structures are very stable, unlike pontoons and wood docks," Richardson said.Floating an untested ideaArun Bhalaik, a Seattle engineer specializing in marine structures, is somewhat of a floatingconcrete evangelist. "It's an existing technology that can save taxpayers a bundle," Bhalaikwrote in a 1990 Seattle Times op-ed urging residents to consider building a floating bridgeusing the improved polystyrene materials to connect Seattle to growing Eastside communities.Today, Seattle is home to the first and longest floating bridges in the world.Fifteen years later, Bhalaik believes that using the floating concrete technology in flood-proneareas is a viable solution to persistent destruction and danger. He says the polystyreneconcretestructures range in cost from $80 to $200 per square foot of deck surface - far lessthan the cost of repairing, rebuilding, and relocating entire communities.Having designed hundreds of floating concrete structures, Bhalaik has seen the technologywork in a range of conditions and settings, including guidewalls for ships moving through locks,bridges, marinas, docks, and offshore drilling units. He says homes and emergency platforms2should be quite simple compared to the much more complex structures that have been builtsuccessfully around the globe."There is an LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) facility on top of floating concrete structure inIndonesia. It was built in Tacoma, Washington, and they moved it all the way to Indonesia.There are floating saw mills on the Amazon, and the Norwegian oil field rigs are all building onfloating concrete. It's an understood technology. We know how to build these things."The sturdy floats can be made anywhere polystyrene is available, including directly on site,eliminating the need for transportation. And because concrete is inherently resistant tocorrosion and protects the steel reinforcement embedded in it from rusting, the structures lastand upkeep is minimal.While these benefits are compelling, the idea is hard to wrap one's mind around. Most peopleare used to seeing polystyrene used for egg cartons and packing, not homes, and concretehardly conjures up an image of domestic beauty. What would houses look like? How canfoundations not anchored to the earth be secure?High and dry with a stunning viewConsider this example from the Netherlands, where two-thirds of the Dutch live below sealevel, constantly under threat from rising waters. For centuries, residents have built dikes toprotect themselves from the sea, but faced with rainfall predictions that would raise the sealevel by four feet, engineers turned to floating concrete to counter the rising tides.A village southeast of Amsterdam, built on the "wrong side" of a dike in a beautiful flood plain,has been transformed into a community of amphibious homes. Each hollowed-out homefoundation rests on the ground, fastened to mooring posts with sliding rings that allow thehouse to float upward with rising flood waters. All the electrical cables, water and sewage flowthrough flexible pipes inside the mooring piles.Attractive, modern and boasting spectacular views from the bedroom and living roombalconies, the houses have been so popular that a waiting list of 5,000 continues to grow.Developers have plans for an entire floating town of 12,000 homes near Amsterdam's Schipholairport. Construction is expected to begin in 2010 and will include floating schools, hospitalsand shops. Concrete bunkers below the buildings will store water for reuse.While floodwaters persistently damage large sections of the United States every year, suchcommunities have yet to be built or even planned. Richardson says the Army Corps ofEngineers has turned down offers to promote this technology and make it available for theconstruction of homes and safety platforms, because they don't want to encourage people tolive in flood plains."So the technology in general goes wasted when it could save lives and help so many people.History has shown that people will continue to live in flood-prone areas, no matter what therisks. If we have a simple, inexpensive solution, it's worth making available so people can helpthemselves if they want to," Richardson said.Ready, set, pourIf shifts in the market and improvements in construction technology of above-ground concreteshell dwellings -- essentially an inside out and upside down form of Richardson's better livingsolution -- are any indication, acceptance could be close at hand. The popularity of homes withconcrete wall construction is at an all-time high, and a new construction method, usingpolystyrene forms for the cement that are then covered with another layer of concrete -Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF), is spurring even more growth.3This market expansion could pave the way for homes with concrete top to bottom and capableof rising above floodwaters. Advances in concrete mixes create very lightweight cement thatstill maintains its strength, making it possible to use for the foundation and walls. Weighing inat 45 pounds per cubic foot without the polystyrene, it easily floats above water, which weighs62 pounds per cubic foot."It's the way of the 21st century," said Dave Sethre, executive director of the North DakotaReady Mix & Concrete Products Association. "It's totally cool stuff."Sethre's enthusiasm stems from the structure's many benefits over woodframe homes. Hesays concrete structures are strong enough to withstand forces of nature that would destroyhouses build using traditional construction materials - unaffected by mold, moisture, intensesun and strong winds. They're also much more energy efficient, cutting heating and airconditioning costs in half - quite a boon in North Dakota and Minnesota where Sethre doesmost of his building.Joseph Lyman, president of the Insulating Concrete Form Association (ICFA) said the growthtrend line of the ICF construction has been like a hockey stick - relatively flat to start thenspiking over the last decade. "We're at the critical bend in the hockey stick right now, almostdoubling the number of homes built each year."In the last few years, Lyman says the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Developmenthas provided welcome encouragement. "HUD has broadened ideas, and perspectives of howwe perceive buildings. They realize that two-by-four construction is not sustainable. We can'tcontinue to cut down trees for lumber. Concrete is a stable, durable, and sustainable buildingmaterial."Other benefits of cement over traditional "stick frame" homes built with wood studs includevirtually soundproof walls and air completely filtered of allergens and dust. "There are no voidswhere air can enter a home. It's the perfect controlled climate," Sethre said.Sethre said there are several attractive colors and designs that can be applied, including a fauxbrick appearance, varied textures, rounded corners and other decorative features. Sethre hostsseveral seminars for builders to learn the trade and is excited about the opportunity it presentsfor young people."Contractors are so busy doing stick frame systems, they don't take the time to learn. It allowsa young person who wants to build a better home for the consumer and the environment toget started in something big with minimum investment and a premium product," Sethre said."With these systems, we're building to last like the European structures. They will last forever.There's nothing here to rot."Based on his own experience in the industry, Lyman expects homes with floating concretefoundations will be greeted with initial skepticism and reticence, but "if people want a floatinghouse to protect them from floodwaters, markets can be created by themselves. Consumersdrive the market and the popularity of concrete homes in market share in the past decadecould create more acceptance."Architects of a floating worldDon Innes, chairman of the board of Float, Inc. knows a thing or two about getting the publicand markets to try new things. Innes isn't so much concerned about flood prevention, but seesthe waters' surface as a new real estate frontier. He has patented and tested large floatingplatforms, designed for off-shore oil refineries, airports and military bases. The technologyuses cylinders of trapped air to support platforms that rest on the ocean's surface. Unlike4floating concrete using polystyrene, the pneumatically stabilized platforms remain perfectlystable as weight is added and waves break on its sides, providing a level surface to base anyoperation. In addition, the shock absorber air cells are capable of capturing wave energy,which can be used to generate electricity."Everybody seems to be very excited about it and thinks we have the future in our hands, butno one wants to pay for the risk of building on the first platform," Innes said. "Edison must berolling over in his grave. Nothing would be here if we didn't try things that hadn't been donebefore." The first taker - a Louisiana military base - is not interested in building on theplatform, but will use it to test detonations and explosions. "It will be an empty platform wherethey can conduct tests, blowing things up."Innes insists that eventually the demand will be so great, that offshore real estate will beinevitable: "The population of the world will expand past the one-third of the world that ishabitable by man and start taking advantage of the other two-thirds surface of the earth."Innes says the idea of using floating concrete for housing in flood-prone areas is so simple bycomparison, "It's hard to believe it hasn't been put into practice before." He urges Richardsonto be patient and build a cadre of engineers and architects who can attest to its viability.Better living made easierFloating concrete as a flood protection tactic is just one of a steady stream of products,concepts and ideas that Richardson's company will introduce to making living more safe and alittle easier.Flooding factsFloods account for more than 90 percent of disaster-related property damage and more than75 percent of all Presidential disaster declarations.Water weighs 62.4 lbs. per cubic foot and typically flows downstream at 6 to 12 miles an hour.Given this force and the buoyancy created by displaced water, two feet of water will carryaway most automobiles.People who live in a flood plain have a 26 percent chance of being flooded during the life of a30-year mortgage, compared to only a 4 percent chance of fire.National Flood Insurance Program insurance loss records show that more than 30,000 houseshave been flooded more than once in a six-year period.The National Weather Service and U.S. Geological Survey are using new technologies to createflood maps that provide more detailed predictions of where water will go during a flood. Thesemaps can provide an early alert system for those in harm's way to protect themselves.*National Weather Service, Federal Emergency Management Administration, and U.S.Geological SurveyRSMC™ SolutionsWith a company slogan, "Helping to Understand Our World and Committed to Finding BetterWays to Live in It," the mission of RSMC is to create useful products that meet common needsand to provide information in engaging ways so that people in need of a solution can helpthemselves.5RSMC™ has patent pending an inexpensive and convenient application to protect consumersfrom the damages caused by identity theft known as Safety-Zones® and is finishing an onlinefinance program to help the average person to control debt and better manage money knownas Budget-Master.com. Another RSMC™ solution includes an "e-mail guardian" - a product thatwill stop spam. "It's the ubiquitous problems that tend to be most neglected," said companypresident Diane Richardson. "It's just a matter of looking for solutions in the right places."Richardson points to a Sufi story about philosopher-fool Nasrudin, who was on his kneeslooking for his house keys under a street light. A neighbor happened by and joined in thesearch. After some time with no success, the neighbor asked Nasrudin, "Exactly where did youlose your keys?" Nasrudin replied, "Inside my house." "Then why on earth are we looking forthem out here?" asked the neighbor. "Because," Nasrudin said, "there is more light here."This story reveals a common predisposition to look where we want to instead of where thesolution exists. "RSMC is founded on a belief that in our multidimensional world, knowledge,determination, curiosity, open-mindedness and serendipity lead to discoveries. With a healthyconcern for ourselves, and the welfare of others, we look for and create value within ours,"said Richardson.Additional Help for FloodingFederal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)Help at all stages of flooding: preparation, management, and clean up -http://www.fema.gov/hazards/floods/floodf.shtm"Homeowners Guide to Retrofitting" - Six Ways to Protect Your House from Floodinghttp://www.fema.gov/hazards/hurricanes/rfit.shtmSmall Business Administration http://www.sba.gov/disaster/getready.htmlThe SBA provides low-interest disaster assistance loans for both businesses and privateresidences to pay for rebuilding damaged structures, including the cost of bringing the buildinginto compliance with local ordinances and laws.Department of Housing and Urban Developmenthttp://www.hud.govHUD may provide additional, or allow Community Development Block Grants to be used forretrofitting substantially damaged houses or substandard housing (including elevatingfloodprone houses and acquiring badly damaged floodprone houses).US Army Corps of Engineershttp://www.usace.army.mil/public.html The Corps has statutory authority to participate inflood protection projects that may include residential retrofitting (including elevatingfloodprone houses and acquiring badly damaged floodprone houses).US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Servicehttp://www.nrcs.usda.govThe NRCS has the statutory authority to participate in small watershed flood protectionprojects that may include residential retrofitting. Contact your local Conservationist listed inthe government pages of your telephone directory or at www.nrcs.usda.gov for furtherinformation.###

This article is sponsored by RSMC - rsmc.com The contributing Writer is Rebecca Fleischauer December 30, 2004

A Concrete Solution To America's Flooding ProblemConcrete structures range in cost from $80 to $200 per square foot of deck surface – far less floating concrete. It's an understood technology. We know how to build these things."